Interlude: Crete and the Sporades

Porphyrios, Admiral of the Epirote Fleet, watched on as the Athenian Fleet, heavy with Quinquiremes, a larger, slower, heavier warship than most of the Epirote Ships, was harried by his faster Quadrireremes. His plan was simple, engage the Athenian fleet in a triad of battles, get inside the decision-making process of their admiral, and force them to react. Then, he would force them to fight in a location of his choosing and annihilate them. It was a principle he had learned from watching his King plan land wars strategically. Now he was putting it into practice for the Navy.

Indeed, things had gone well on that front, his plans seemed to be working. He had defeated the Athenians first in a skirmish off of the Isle of Andros in the Cyclades, forcing them to turn back north to avoid contesting the seas around Crete and Euboea. He then fought them again in a skirmish within sight of the port of Kyme on the northern coast of Euboea, dashing the Athenian Allies on the Island's hopes of an Athenian attempt to break the blockade of the Island. Now he had forced the Athenian Fleet into a position, bottlenecking them in the straits between the isles of Peperethos and Ikos in the Sporades. As the sun began its morning journey across the sky, Admiral Porphyrios looked out at his enemy to try and divine their dispositions.

Interestingly, from his vantage aboard the Dromon Spear of Ambracia, the Flagship of the Epirote Fleet, Admiral Porphyrios could see neither hide nor hair of the Athenian Flagship, the Hexareme Memory of Pericles, which he knew he had damaged in the battle off Kyme. This likely meant the damage was severe enough that after managing to limp away from the fight the Athenian Admiral, Kallikrates of Samos, had to order the ship scuttled and transfer his command to one of the smaller Quinquiremes.

"Now if only we could figure out which Quinquireme, we'd have a priority target." Mused Porphyrios to himself.

"Uncle?" Questioned his second for this adventure, Eurybatos.

Eurybatos was a nephew of Porphyrios' from Korkyra. His mother, Alcmene of Korkyra was married to Porphyrios' brother Maron, a wine merchant whose vines produced some of the finest wines in Epirus. Eurybatos was younger than his other nephew, Proteas, by two years, meaning that he would not inherit Maron's estates and businesses. Fortunately, the young lad had an Uncle who could show him the ropes of Naval Command, and that would be his career. So far, Eurybatos' somewhat scrawny frame had left much to be desired physically, but the intelligence that sparked in the boy's green eyes more than made up for it, and he was a swift learner.

"This is mayhaps a teachable moment. Eurybatos, look here. Which of the remaining Athenian Quinquiremes do you believe to be the one that Kallikrates has moved his flag to, now that the Memory of Pericles is sunk?" Questioned Porphyrios.

"Hmm. None of them are flying the Admirals' Pennant, Uncle. Have you considered that perhaps Kallikrates has been wounded and they are acting as a council of captains more than as a strong, unified, fleet?" Queried Eurybatos.

"It's possible, I suppose, though they would need to be quite desperate for that." Mused Porphyrios.

It was true, such things were not normally done due to the inherent breakdown in the chain of command that such a structure would inevitably lead to. One could not call a council in the midst of a battle, after all. Thus, such things were usually only ever done as a temporary measure. In the event that the Admiral, his Second, and the Captain of the Fleet's Flagship were incapacitated, a Council of Captains might be called to provide leadership to get the fleet to a friendly port, for instance. Especially in situations where none of the remaining captains had clear seniority.

Porphyrios did not believe that they had hit the Athenian Fleet that hard, but then, the Athenian Performance so far had been quite lackluster in the entire war. While that was expected on land, the Navy was another matter, as Athens was so proud of its Fleet. He had attributed that poor performance to him being able to force them into reacting ever since the Skirmish at Andros had started the running engagements that had led them here to the Sporades, but what if that were not the case? What if they had been having command and control issues this whole time? If that was so, then they had an even bigger opportunity here than Porphyrios realized.

"Say that is the case. What would you do in this situation?" Asked Porphyrios.

"I would target their Quinquiremes as a priority. Their command structure would be inherently fragile right now, and it shouldn't take more than a quarter of their remaining Quinquiremes being lost to force them to turn on each other as they all try to escape the trap." Answered Eurybatos.

"Bottle them up in the strait with our Quadriremes and use our ranged advantage thanks to our Dromons to target their Quinquiremes. Very well, we shall put your proposed strategy into action." Agreed Porphyrios.

It took several hours to fully entrap the Athenian Fleet in the straits between Peperethos and Ikos and begin firing on the enemy Quinquiremes with their Dromons. The ability to mount heavier ranged weaponry than the Quinquiremes could allowed the Dromons to outrange anything less powerful than a Hexareme while being ultimately faster, sturdier, and more maneuverable, owing to their more advanced construction and sail plan. The Athenians had nothing that could contest the Epirote Dromons at this range anymore.

Mind you, the Athenians still had a numerical advantage on the Epirote Fleet. With half the Epirote Fleet either blockading Euboea or shipping supplies to the embattled Spartan Allies on Crete, even after losing a quarter of their fleet in the running skirmishes, the Athenians still had a seventy-five-ship numerical advantage. If they could just bring those numbers to bear, they might be able to make a mad dash to break out of the cauldron that the Epirotes had made of the Straits. However, with the Quadriremes keeping them penned in, and the Dromons bombarding the larger ships, killing more and more of the command and control of the Athenian Fleet, such a maneuver was made impossible.

By the time that noon rolled around, the bombardment had been ongoing for two hours, an hour later, command and control among the Athenian Fleet seemed to break down entirely with the destruction of half of the remaining Quinquiremes. An hour after that, the remaining ships of the Athenian Fleet, including its last thirty Quinquiremes, finally saw sense and surrendered. When the dust settled, out of the two-hundred-twenty-five ships that the Athenian Navy began the fighting with, only Thirty Quinquiremes, Forty Quadriremes, and Seventy Triremes made it through the Cauldron to surrender.

In terms of Epirote Fleet Losses, out of Fifty Dromons and One-hundred Quadriremes, they lost only Twenty Quadriremes damaged or sunk. It was an overwhelming victory, owing largely to the fact that Eurybatos had been correct. A party of Marines that had been sent over to take control of the remaining Quinquiremes confirmed it. They also found the Admiral of Athens, Kallikrates of Samos, laid up in bed aboard one of the Quinquiremes, the Sword of Nike, delirious with fever after a cut he had taken from an Archer's arrow during the battle off Kyme had turned foul. Fortunately, with proper medical care, he would pull through, according to the Ship's Doctor of the Spear of Ambracia. That did mean, however, that the fleet would be staying in port at Peperethos for the foreseeable future.

The fleet was still in port when they heard of developments on Crete and the battle of Malia. . .

XXXX

It had happened suddenly in the middle of the night. The Forces of the League of Polyrrhenia had sprung a daring surprise attack on the camp of the forces of the League of Knossos near the port of Kamara. The League of Knossos had been less concerned with the siege since the port could simply keep the enemy supplied by sea, and more concerned with keeping the League of Polyrrhenia in place. They trusted that their mere presence, and the assured reinforcements on the way from Sparta, would allow them to keep the League of Polyrhennia's forces bottled up in Kamara until the war could be won elsewhere.

Ironically, the League of Polyrrhenia was trying what had been tried on Euboea a short while ago to break out of Kamara. Unlike the Euboeans and their Athenian Allies, however, the League of Polyrrhenia was successful, largely thanks to the coordinated and deliberate setting of fires by specially-picked Pyrophoroi, bearing lit brands into the enemy camp that they then tossed amongst the tents and animals to cause a panic.

One such attack managed to set off a fire that spooked the various horses of the small cavalry contingent that the League of Knossos had with them. That had caused a stampede within the Camp of the League of Knossos that had badly hindered the League of Knossos' response to the night attack along with killing the Strategos of the League of Knossos, Panares of Gortyna. The League of Knossos had been forced out of their camp and routed back along the road to Malia, leaving many dead troops and much equipment in their wake.

When the Army of the League of Knossos arrived in Malia, it was a leaderless shell of its former self. Some six thousand men out of the ten thousand that had been encamped outside Kamara had made it back to Malia, many were lacking equipment, lost along with the camp. The small cavalry contingent had lost their mounts to the stampede. The League of Knossos' Army had even lost the paychests of Drachmae meant to pay them for their fighting.

It was fortunate for the League of Knossos, then, that Sparta arrived with ten thousand troops, well-equipped and rested, along with supplies and extra equipment. The remainder of the League of Knossos' Forces, along with their civilian government, would be placed under the direct control of Areus the First, the Second of Sparta's Twin Kings, the unique form of Diarchy practiced by Sparta ensuring that two separate major Spartan Armies could fight across vast distances of territory.

The League of Knossos' Synedrion grumbled at such an assumption of powers by King Areus. However, they could do little about it. Their performance in the war thus far had been less than stellar and they had an emergency on hand to warrant such a move. Areus assured the League Synedrion that once they had crushed the League of Polyrrhenia, control of their local affairs would be returned to them and the Synedrion would have to be content with that.

Areus equipped the League Of Knossos' Forces with whatever he could spare, and in this, stretched his supplies of spare equipment thinner than he would have liked. It was in effect, a gamble. Should he lose in the upcoming battle, the League of Polyrrhenia would effectively have free reign over Crete until such a time as reinforcements could be brought in from the mainland. Should he win, however, it would give enough breathing room for the League of Knossos to get more supply in to follow up their victory with a campaign into enemy territory.

The two armies drew up on the long stretch of beach near Malia opposite each other. The battle started as most Cretan Battles did, with an exchange of arrow fire from Archers. However, Areus had done something different with his formations. He had placed his Cretan Archers inside a sort of hollow phalanx of Thorakitai. The Thorakitai would use their shields and formation to deflect arrows shot at the League of Knossos' Archers, while the League of Knossos' Archers could reap a fearsome toll of their own against the unprotected enemy Archers.

Seeing this, the Strategos of the League of Polyrrhenia, the resourceful and wily Sosibius of Etea, knew that he had to do what he could to disrupt the enemy from firing upon his main force of Phalangites and Thureophoroi as they advanced if he wished to win the battle. He sent forth his cavalry in an attempt to dislodge the enemy archers from their guarded position. The Companion Cavalry, armed with looted steel equipment, saddles, and stirrups, thundered forth from the lines of the League of Polyrrhenia charging straight for the Archers and Thorakitai.

Areus, however, knew that these formations would be a target and had positioned other Thorakitai nearby to act as a reserve to bolster the hollow phalanxes if needed. He stretched his main force thin in doing so, mind you, leaving only a thinner screen of Thureophoroi to defend the flanks of his squares of Phalangites and Hypaspists. As the enemy advanced into his lines, it showed, the League of Polyrrhenia pushing back his main line of battle some. Fortunately for Areus, his line bent but didn't break. This fight would not be decided there in any case. It would be decided by the Hollow Squares on the extreme left flank.

"Signal the Thorakitai Reserve, send them to reinforce the Hollow Squares. We cannot have them break if our strategy is to work." Ordered King Areus.

"Of course, My King, but are we not placing too much faith in these Cretans? They already failed once, quite badly." Questioned his Second, a grizzled veteran named Aristodamos.

"You think our allies incapable?" Queried King Areus.

"I meant no disrespect, clearly Cretan Archers are valued troops, but they are no Spartans." Shrugged Aristodamos.

"No, they are not, are they? That is why they must be bolstered. It is important that our allies feel they have a hand in this battle so that what comes after the war will go more smoothly. Understand?" Asked King Areus.

"Politics. I see." Nodded Aristodamos.

"Exactly, now do as I commanded." Ordered King Areus.

Aristodamos left to do so. Soon after, the signal was sent out and the Thorakitai of the Hollow Squares were reinforced. The League of Polyrhennia's Cavalry had exhausted itself trying to break the Hollow Squares, and after three hours of battle, and one last charge, bounced again and routed from the field. Now, the Archers of the Hollow Squares opened up, firing the rest of their stockpiled arrows into the flank of the enemy line, reaping a horrific toll among the troops of the League of Polyrhennia. As the enemy's right flank weakened from the barrage, Areus sent in his last reserves to bolster his left.

The enemy's right flank, weakened by hours of fighting and bled by arrow fire from the League of Knossos' Archers, was struck by a renewed assault by fresh troops and couldn't handle it. It bent back nearly causing the enemy line to fishhook in the process. The last straw, however, was when, after the League of Knossos' Archers had fired their last arrows, their Thorakitai Guards shifted their formation to a wedge and charged from the extreme left. Bled, weakened, exhausted, and now attacked from behind and in front, the League of Polyrrhenia's right flank shattered.

Seeing this, Sosibius of Etea called for a retreat, sacrificing a portion of his forces to buy time for the rest of them to withdraw in a desperate rear-guard action. By the end of the day, the losses of the Night Attack on the Camp at Kamara had been paid back to the enemy at Malia. With interest, even, as of the fifteen-thousand troops of the League of Polyrhennia that had come to fight on the beach outside Malia, they left some six-thousand behind them, a full one-thousand more than the number the League of Knossos had suffered slain or captured at Kamara. To do so, however, the League of Knossos had taken three thousand dead or wounded and expended much of its remaining supplies of steel-tipped arrows and other high-quality, imported, equipment.

Fortunately, with the news of the Athenian Fleet's surrender at the Sporades, supplies would no longer be an issue. The League of Knossos would be able to resupply at their leisure, while the League of Polyrhennia would not. That was how, on the Nineteenth of October, Two-Seventy-Nine, the League of Knossos found themselves once again besieging the League of Polyrhennia inside the port city of Kamara. This time, however, they maintained a tighter siege.

There would be no repeat of Panares' Blunders under Spartan command. So swore Areus, Argid King of Sparta. After all, he could not let his Eurypontid Co-Ruler gain all the glory in this war, could he? Doing so might encourage Archidamus to try and claim sole kingship, and that just wouldn't do at all. After all, just because Areus usually dealt with matters of politics on the Home Front and let Archidamus deal with foreign policy didn't mean Archidamus was the be-all and end-all of Sparta. It simply meant that Areus shined in other areas. Like politics.

So it would be politics that he would use to retain his family's seat and preserve the Diarchy should Archidamus let his successes on the mainland go to his head. He would take Crete in hand, winning glory and setting up a power base for his Dynasty in the process. He would do better wooing the Cretans than the more bellicose Archidamus would do wooing the Achaeans. Let the Eurypontids have the Mainland. The Argids would take overseas territories like Crete, and when they had a power base in Crete, then a true division of the Kingship could be discussed. That was for later, though. For now, it was time to finish the fight and see the League of Polyrhennia defeated.

Without that step one, the rest of Areus' plans would never come to fruition, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here we see a couple of things. One, the naval war had just been won, thanks to an extremely lucky break on the part of Epirus managing to take out the Athenian Fleet's most senior commanders before the big fight in the Sporades. That effectively turned the Battle of the Sporades into a Turkey Shoot for Epirus.

The second big thing is that while the League of Polyrhennia was doing well on Crete, it was the only member of its coalition that was. Victories elsewhere have allowed the Spartans to send reinforcements under the Argid King. Sparta is a Diarchy, after all, Archidamus was mostly handling foreign affairs, but the sheer number of fronts involved here means that Areus had to come out to fight too.

The last big thing is that there's some tension between the two lines of Spartan Kings. Areus feels that letting Archidamus take foreign affairs as his area of responsibility for the past few years was a mistake and the momentous events that Archidamus has gotten involved in and successfully navigated have gone to his head. He's trying to win big on Crete, then play politics with the League of Knossos' Synedrion so that by the time Archidamus notices, he'll have enough leverage for the Argids to negotiate a fairer division of responsibilities and hopefully avoid the Eurypontids claiming sole kingship of Sparta.

At any rate, in the next chapter we'll be back with Pyrrhus.

Stay tuned. . .